It’s just an extra pound…isn’t it?

I’ve been a bit lax on weighing myself the last while. I went on WW last year and lost a total of 28 pounds, a few pounds shy of my “goal weight.” I actually felt a little *too* thin there, so I’ve been maintaining anywhere between 127 to 130 and I’ve been pretty happy with that. However, I think I’ve gotten a little lazy – definitely eating more, not paying attention to the scale, convincing myself that ignorance really is bliss. Today I weighed about 131. 131.4, to be exact. Ok, so it’s not even remotely the end of the world. My pants still fit fine, I’m not “feeling fat”, but I have to wonder – is this how it all starts? Sure, it’s an extra pound or two and I can live with that, but what about a few weeks from now, or a few months from now? Will it be yet another pound or two?

It seems to me that’s how a lot of things start. Or maybe how they stop, really. You make a commitment, a goal and you attempt to stick with it. And then little by little, they slide. “Oh I’ll skip doing x just this one time”, or “one more tiny brownie won’t hurt.” Before you know it, you’re weighing an extra 10 pounds or an extra 20 pounds, or you’ve stopped writing or reading or editing.

So, it becomes a fine balance, like everything else. How much is too much? How do you temper giving yourself a break once in a while to recharge without falling back into old patterns or bad habits? I tend to swing the other way sometimes, where I can’t let go of anything at all. It makes for little sleep – and lousy sleep, at that. But my mind just can’t stop moving. I feel completely worthless if I even take a few moments to myself – as though my only self-worth is in being productive in some fashion. I’m not really fond of the feeling, but I’m not really sure how to stop it at this point. After all, it’s just an extra pound, isn’t it?

I don’t own a scale. shock, I know, but I don’t need things to obsess over.

I was able to keep my weight within a 5lb range for 6 years by eating sensibly and walking 2 miles a day. Then I tore my knee up in an accident a year ago, and jarred/bruised my back pretty badly. that’s not a problem normally. It heals if you’re careful. But for me it was problematic because I fractured my back 5 years ago. The combo of the two meant not a lot of activity. That’s where I gained almost 40lbs. Yikes! I was still eating sensibly but little or no activity? It did me in. I have to have another surgery on my knee but I am able to be more active. Now it’s getting back into walking daily again. 2 Miles? I wish, but I’m going to have to work up to it again. No way am I going to be able to walk 2 miles in less than 30 minutes for awhile. But the weight is coming off again veeeerrrrry slowly. I know I wish I could wake up tomorrow and poof I’m where I should be. Nice dream, lolol! So it’s back to one day and one meal at a time.

Balance is imperative. Since we can put on or drop 5lbs easily, that was always my watch range. 6 pounds? I carefully watched what I ate for a week.

Heh – right there with you. I used to kickbox and all that fun stuff too, but I cracked a disc last January (2008). It's caused me a lot of issues since then, so when I try to run, etc, it can really lay me up for days afterwards.

The WW thing worked for me for a while as far as limiting my intake – so now I just gotta make sure I don't break out of the better habits I had. Soooo easy to just pile on that Mac & Cheese. 😉